Under most Awards, work performed on public holidays, or substituted days, must be paid for at penalty rates, and any requests for an employee to work should be reasonable. Where employees are provided the day off when they would ordinarily work, they are paid as normal.

This year, due to the impact of COVID-19, construction hours have been extended to support the industry. New rules introduced last week by the NSW Government now allow construction sites to operate on weekends and public holidays as per the usual weekday operating hours.

The changes mean that workers will be able to more easily follow the social distancing rules on site by having building work spread across all days of the week.

These rules will be in place until the crisis is over, or further rules are made. Authorised council officers will be monitoring compliance with the new rules to ensure there are no adverse public health impacts. More information can be found on the NSW Planning website.

HIA has developed a set of industry guidelines to help members manage their residential building work sites and the risks from COVID-19, View the guidelines.

If you have any questions on this topic please contact your Workplace Advisor on 1300 650 620.